kalalau's Group - FULL for now (Page 10)

That's a great site, although I have used calculators like this in the past and they've never been terribly accurate.  I have theories why, but won't go into them now.  I'm willing to give it a try though.  I think Sunday this week would be the best day to do a time trial.  "Flatish" isn't something that really happens around here, but the hills will make it worst case.  Taper also usually makes a big difference for me, but I am not sure I'll get to taper for Frederick, so maybe it will be an accurate representation. 

Otherwise, training is going pretty well.  I got a calf cramp at the end of my swim the other night that has been sore for a couple of days, but it's going away.  The swim times have been going down consistently 1s/100yd every long sunday swim, which doesn't sound like much, but with 16 weeks to go, isn't really bad progress!  My runs have been feeling good and are fairly quick for me.  I'm happy with the progress, but want to throw in some more run miles, just so I don't totally lose the long run fitness that I had from marathon training (if it's not already gone!)  Cycling is more hit or miss and it really just seems to depend on the day and how tired my legs are.  I'm really enjoying training though, and am happy to have the support of J and all you here in the mentor group!

Excellent, way to go!  It's kind of humbling that I am happy with my 10 mile race while you are knocking out 21 mile training runs. :-)  What are your last 2 long run distances?

Yes I agree that any test you can do is at least some sort of gauge we can use, though it's not perfect.  That's funny about your swim cramp.  Were you dehydrated?  I used to get really bad foot or calf cramps after pushing off the wall after long swim workouts, but that's gotten better partially because of swim fitness and partially because I pay attention to hydration now.

You swimming does seem to be going well.  That might be "middle of the pack" pace.

Here's another formula that is similar to McMillan.  It's the Runner's World "VDOT" number.

What's Your Magic Number?

I liked this article and I refer to it every so often.  Like the McMillan calculator, I have found that the table on page 2 is true for me except for the marathon distance.  All of these numbers that I use though, are for PR time, so I would have to have a perfect day to hit them.

Probably.  I didn't drink much during the day, and I did a 45 minute run just before.  I need to really work on that.  

Sweet!  Hopefully with lessons, I can secure myself in the MOP, although as long as I make the cutoff (really shouldn't be an issue at this point) that's all I really care about for my first.

Based on my 1/2 marathon PR, this one actually seems much more accurate, except for the marathon, which it's not even close.  It does seem to pretty accurately predict my 5k though.  I'll check it out again after I do a "timed" run this weekend.  :-)

When comparing your pacing against past race results, you can also figure that you will be faster because of the wetsuit.  They say that wetsuits help us slower folks more than the fast guys. We would have to look through some race reports to know if there were other water factors such as water chop and current.  Probably more of an issue at Eagleman than Columbia.

One more note on having "race worthy" gear for a triathlon.  The buying never stops.  There is always some new gadget that all the non-thrifty triathletes are buying.  This year, it is compression socks.  Ok, yes, I have some too. :-)  Anyway, the point is, as long as you have the basics, you are ok.  From there, you are just buying things to increase your speed and your comfort.  And some of the things that you might end up buying aren't even shown to have an effect, such as compression socks.

When you go to these races, particularly the big name ones like Columbia, and Eagleman, it will be easy to get intimidated because of all the gadgets everyone has.  At Eagleman, there will be a lot of $3000-$5000 bikes.  People will be walking around in compression socks, as silly as they look.  They will have their fancy aero water bottles sitting in their aero bars, which will seem funny when you see pieces of them that have fallen on the course.  They will also have the cool looking water bottle cages off the back of the seat, which I have, but removed because I read enough to make me think it actually might create drag.  Many will have those funny looking aero helmets.  

In the lesser known and smaller races, there's not that many of these folks.  But regardless, don't let it get to you.  Just because they have money to go out and buy all this stuff, means nothing about their fitness, and it means nothing about you not belonging there.  In fact, it's quite possible, you may pass someone that has fancy $2000 disc wheels on their bike.  More likely, they may breeze by you on the bike because you were a better swimmer than they are.  Those wheels even *sound* intimidating.  Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh... but they are just normal folks, there is nothing special about them.  They are just trying to buy speed.  Just laugh them off and if they pass, they should be embarrassed that they were behind us for so long, considering the gear they have. :-)

Wow, keep up the good work and good luck on the race!  I'm sure your run fitness will come in handy later in the season.  My current HIM plan is pretty light on the run miles and although I'm not sure I miss the 18-20 milers, I do miss the 10-15 mile mid-length runs.  Josh has already been adding in extra run miles...maybe I'll do the same.

ok i learned a very discouraging newbie lesson today!

I just found out one of the tris I had planned for Sept is ALREADY sold-out!   I have 2 others planned. 1 for July and 1 for Aug...(their registration isn't even open yet) but i am totally bummed!!!

The Danskin SheROX NY Metro Triathlon - September 13 

I was psyched cause it was down the shore! (ocean swim, plus - nice and flat compared to where I live) Plus it was a womens only...nothing personal against u men...just thinking I wouldn't have to contend with you guys in the water.

Ugh!!  I'm so bummed!  I had a feeling we should watch the opening date, but I don't remember seeing an opening date when we looked before.  Ok, so how about New England or Philly?  Are those too far away for you?

Not many people can say they swam in the Schuylkill River. :-)

Haha, that is a funny story.  It is pretty amazing when the whoosh of a bunch of cyclists come blowing by.  Awesome that you caught some of them.  I would be bummed if I had a race that had the swim canceled.   The unique thing about a triathlon is the swim.  We don't get opportunities to do open water swimming very often.  And when I do, I am never willing to swim out as far as in a race. :-)

Yea those are a bit far for me.

On the flip side I signed up for the Randolph Triathlon TODAY! So it's official! My first triathlon!!! I already have butterflies... hehehe

Way to go!!  That seems like a good triathlon for you.  And since you can do the course several times before the event, that will remove the nerves a bit.  The local bike shop is having Friday night rides on the course.  Also, a couple of other BTers did this one as their first race:

Randolph Tri Race Reports

Previous years' results appear to be on a website that is having trouble at the moment. :-\

Hah!  Good ole Google cache, you gotta love it.

2008 Results

When I obsess a little bit about a race (and what triathlete doesn't do that?), I even look up  pictures from the event in previous years.  In some cases you can find them right in Google, and in other cases you may have to look up the popular sport photographer websites and see if they were there (asiorders, brightroom, maybe others). Sometimes you can even find videos in youtube and other places, which is great because you can see what the swim looks like many times.

In this case, I found them in Google:

Randolph Sprint Tri Photos

Things I might look for:

- how many people are wearing (or not wearing) wetsuits?

- what kind of wetsuits are they wearing (indicates how competitive it might be)?

- what kind of clothes are people wearing (as a beginner this is nice to see)?

- what's the entry and exit areas of the swim look like?

- what's the transition area look like?

- if I live in the area and plan to visit, can I spot some landmarks so I can visually go through the course without the race being set up?

- where do I need to make sure I make a great pose for my awesome 1st triathlon pics? (they will likely set up this year's photos in the same spots)

- where's those darn mountain bikes that Dave promised were going to be there? (page 4 of "tri bike in photos"

And in general it gives you a better feel for a race rather than just reading about it.  It feels more real.

2007 Columbia Triathlon Video

2008 Eagleman Triathlon Video

It's hard to watch a well done video of your future race without getting totally psyched!!  Motivating, for sure.  Are you psyched, Becky??!! :-)